Abstract
Although there is a broad consensus that both the procedural and declarative memory systems play a crucial role in language learning, use and knowledge, the mapping between linguistic types and memory structures remains underspecified: by default, a dual-route mapping of language systems to memory systems is assumed, with declarative memory handling idiosyncratic lexical knowledge and procedural memory handling rule-governed knowledge of grammar.
We experimentally contrast the processing of morphology (case and aspect), syntax (subordination) and lexical semantics (collocations) in a healthy L1 population of Polish, a language rich in form distinctions. We study the processing of these four types under two conditions: a single task condition in which the grammaticality of stimuli was judged, and a concurrent task condition in which grammaticality judgments were combined with a digit span task. Dividing attention impedes access to declarative memory while leaving procedural memory unaffected and hence constitutes a test that dissociates which types of linguistic information each long-term memory construct subserves.
Our findings confirm the existence of a distinction between lexicon and grammar as a generative, dual-route model would predict, but the distinction is graded, as usage-based models assume: the hypothesized grammar–lexicon opposition appears as a continuum on which grammatical phenomena can be placed as being more or less ‘ruly’ or ‘idiosyncratic’. However, usage-based models, too, need adjusting as not all types of linguistic knowledge are proceduralised to the same extent. This move away from a simple dichotomy fundamentally changes how we think about memory for language, and hence how we design and interpret behavioural and neuro-imaging studies that probe into the nature of language cognition.
We experimentally contrast the processing of morphology (case and aspect), syntax (subordination) and lexical semantics (collocations) in a healthy L1 population of Polish, a language rich in form distinctions. We study the processing of these four types under two conditions: a single task condition in which the grammaticality of stimuli was judged, and a concurrent task condition in which grammaticality judgments were combined with a digit span task. Dividing attention impedes access to declarative memory while leaving procedural memory unaffected and hence constitutes a test that dissociates which types of linguistic information each long-term memory construct subserves.
Our findings confirm the existence of a distinction between lexicon and grammar as a generative, dual-route model would predict, but the distinction is graded, as usage-based models assume: the hypothesized grammar–lexicon opposition appears as a continuum on which grammatical phenomena can be placed as being more or less ‘ruly’ or ‘idiosyncratic’. However, usage-based models, too, need adjusting as not all types of linguistic knowledge are proceduralised to the same extent. This move away from a simple dichotomy fundamentally changes how we think about memory for language, and hence how we design and interpret behavioural and neuro-imaging studies that probe into the nature of language cognition.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e13206 |
Journal | Cognitive Science |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Nov 2022 |
Keywords
- Declarative
- Procedural
- Divided attention
- Language
- Memory
- Dual task paradigm
- Grammar
- Lexicon
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Research data supporting the publication "Behavioural signatures of memory resources for language: looking beyond the lexicon/grammar divide"
Milin, P. (Creator), Divjak, D. (Creator), Medimorec, S. (Creator) & Borowski, M. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 14 Sept 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25500/edata.bham.00000867
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